Ideas from the Field on Using ARRA Funds to Advance Education Improvement and ReformEducation Department: American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009

Overview of the Recovery Act

The American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 (Recovery Act) was signed into law by President Obama on February 17th, 2009. It is an unprecedented effort to jumpstart our economy, create or save millions of jobs, and put a down payment on addressing long-neglected challenges so our country can thrive in the 21st century. The Act is an extraordinary response to a crisis unlike any since the Great Depression, and includes measures to modernize our nation's infrastructure, enhance energy independence, expand educational opportunities, preserve and improve affordable health care, provide tax relief, and protect those in greatest need. Show less

The American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 (Recovery Act) was signed into law by President Obama on February 17th, 2009. It is an unprecedented effort... Show more

Many organizations are creating publications that specifically provide recommendations on ways to use Recovery Act funds :

Graduating America: Meeting the Challenge of Low-Graduation Rate High SchoolsEveryone Graduates Center at Johns Hopkins University/Jobs For the Future
Recommendations to the federal government on how to use stimulus monies to help solve the nation's graduation crisis, and new analytic tools for examining the characteristics of schools, districts, and states that make certain approaches to helping the most at-risk students graduate more likely to succeed in certain places.

American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009: Using ARRA Funds to Drive High School ImprovementNational High School Center at the American Institutes of Research
Multiple resources about ARRA such as: deadlines and descriptions related to the new funding opportunities; suggestions made by the Department of Education on ways in which the funds appropriated under ARRA may be spent; and best practices and resources related to these suggestions that will be helpful to stakeholders at the state, district and school levels who are undertaking high school improvement initiatives.

Race to the Top: Promising State Models PDFEducation Commission of the States
Links to legislation and other state sources that highlight promising state approaches to achieving the four goals outlined in ARRA.

The Education Stimulus: Too Big to Fail PDFLearning Point Associates and Mission Measurement
Suggestions for building metrics to monitor the success and return on investment of ARRA based on interviews with more than 50 education leaders exploring what they expect in terms of the impact of ARRA funding on the educational system.

Title I Early Education: Models for Using ARRA FundsCenter for Law and Social Policy
Ways that Title I funds can be used to support early education in schools and community-based programs, and includes models from school districts currently making these choices.

Intelligent Uses of ARRAARRA AssurancesState Educational Technology Directors Association
Descriptions of ways in which technology can be leveraged most effectively in education, including examples of successful state models.

Tough Decisions: Closing Persistently Low-Performing SchoolsCenter on Innovation and Improvement
Summary of lessons learned from four urban settings, designed to help decision makers who are contemplating closing schools for performance reasons learn from districts that have already tackled this difficult challenge.